Spout type bag for powdered and the like materials



July 3, 1962 F. J. CHANDLER SPOUT TYPE BAG FOR POWDERED AND THE LIKE MATERIALS 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 2, 1959 INVENTGR. Frank J. (hand/er ATTORNEYS July 3, 1962 F. J. CHANDLER SPOUT TYPE BAG FOR POWDERED AND THE LIKE MATERIALS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 2, 1959 INVENTOR.

Frank (hand/er BY a v y 1962 F. J. CHANDLER 3,042,287

SPOUT TYPE BAG FOR POWDERED AND THE LIKE MATERIALS Filed Jan. 2, 1959 5 Sheetss 3 INVENTOR.

BY Ha ATTOQNE y:

United States Patent ship Filed Jan. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 784,658 1 Ciaim. (Cl. 229-625) This invention relates to spout type bags for powdered and the like materials, and particularly to so-called valvebags fabricated from thermoplastic sheet material or sheet material coated with pressure or heat sensitive adhesives.

A great many powdered and granular materials are conventionally packaged in bags having multi-layer paper walls. Many of these bags have valve type openings through which the spout of a filling machine is inserted into the interior of the bag for charging the material into the bag and which effectively close to prevent loss of the material when the bag is inverted. Many such materials which have been packaged in paper bags are hygroscopic and eventually water vapor passes through the bags to damage their contents.

Moisture proof sheet materials such as, for examples, polyethylene film coated cellophane, resin coated paper, etc., are not vapor permeable, and now powdered and granular materials can be packaged in bags of these sheet materials without danger that they will be harmed by the passage of water vapor into the interior of the bags. However, bags fabricated from these waterproof materials cannot be sewn together because the perforations caused by the needle of the sewing machine destroy their waterproof integrity. They mu-st, therefore, be sealed either by the application of heat for fusing the sheet material itself or for fusing a heat sensitive coating, or by the application of pressure if the adhesive or material is pressure sensitive.

In the packaging of certain types of finely powdered material, the nature of the material itself renders the subsequent sealing of the bag extremely difiicult because it inspreads a thin layer over the surfaces to be sealed and interferes with their sealing.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the instant invention to provide a bag fabricated from a sheet material of the type discussed, and supplied with a spout receiving opening, including folds of material so designed and constructed as to protect areas which are provided for the sealing of the bag subsequent to filling, against the deposition thereon of powdered materials during the filling of the bag.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a socalled valve-bag having a filling spout opening to permit the discharge of powdered and granular material directly into the interior of a substantially closed bag and having incorporated in its structure means for the preventing of the deposition of the material being charged onto surfaces which must subsequently as sealed.

These and more specific objects and advantages and preferred manners of their accomplishment will be better understood from the specification which follows, and from the drawings, in which- FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a blank for the fabrication of a bag embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the blank shown in FIG. 1 after the performance of a first fabricating step;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in perspective on an enlarged scale illustrating details of the first fabricating step and a second step;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in elevation with parts broken away, illustrating the receiving tube section of a bag after initial formation;

snares? ice FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing the bag after a subsequent step in its fabrication and at the time of its completion prior to filling the bag;

FIG. 6 is a view in elevation of a completed bag according to the invention with a filling machine spout inserted therein for charging powdered or granular material into the bag;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing a step to be taken following the filling of the bag by which the protected, final sealing areas are exposed for sealing;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8, but illustrating the bag as finally sealed;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of a blank for a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. ll is a View similar to FIG. 10 and showing the second embodiment of the invention after a subsequent fabricating step;

FIG. 12 is a View similar to FIG. 11, but showing a filling spout in place in the bag after a fabricating step which constitutes the closure of the bag except for the filling spout receiving tube;

FIG. 13 is a view of the modification of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 10-12 and showing the bag after it has been filled and the final closing seal has been made, and

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary view in perspective illustrating how a bag fabricated according to this modification of the invention may readily be handled.

In the fabrication of a bag embodying a first modification of the invention as illustrated in FIGS. 1-9, inclusive, a blank of suitable dimensions is first fabricated. Such a blank is generally indicated at 20 in FIG. 1 and may be formed either from a tube of suitable sheet material or from one or two sheets of suitable sheet material. The term suitable sheet material is intended to include flexible sheet materials which are vaporproof and thus includes not only plastic or resinous films such as polyethylene, but also coated films such as moistureproof cellophane or coated paper such as kraft paper impregnated with resin or other materials, rendering the paper vaporproof and heat or pressure sensitive for adhesion. If the blank is formed from a tube of such material, for example polyethylene film, it is necessary only to seal one end of the piece of tubing, thus forming a bottom seal 21. Sides 22 and 23 of the blank are formed by continuous portions of the tube. It, on the other hand, the bag 20 is fabricated from one or two sheets of the film, then it is necessary to heat seal the edges 22 and 23 together or to adhere them one to each other if the material is coated with a pressure sensitive adhesive. The particular material from which the bag 20 is formed and whether or not it is a tube or sheets of material, do not constitute subject matter of the instant invention. It is, rather, their shape and subse quent fabricating steps, toward which this invention is directed.

The blank 20 thus comprises opposed front and back walls 24 and 25 joined together at their side edges 22 and 23 and closed across their bottoms as by the seal 21. At the upper left corner of the blank 26 in FIGURE 1, there are continuations 26 and 27 of the front and back walls 24 and 25, respectively. In this embodiment of the invention, the continuations 26 and 27 are rectangular in shape.

The first fabricating step in the production of a bag from a blank 20 is illustrated in FIGURE 2, wherein it can be seen that the continuations 26 and 27 are double folded along parallel diagonal lines indicated at 28, 29 and 30. The fold along the line 28 extends along the broken line indicated by the reference number 28 in FIG. 1 and eventually results in swinging the continuations 26 and 27 downwardly and inwardly between the front 24 and back 25 of the blank 29, with the junction line indicated at 31 between the confirmations 26 and 27 (which constitutes a continuation of the side edge 23) extending along the bottom of the trough thus formed by the continuations 27 and 28 (see FIG. 3). The fold along the line 23 is thus inwardly. The fold along the line 29 is outwardly and the fold along the line 3t) again inwardly.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, between the folds 28 and 29 there is formed an area 32 which will be referred to hereinafter as an outer area of the reentrant folds formed by the two continuations 26 and 27 swung downwardly and inwardly between the front and back walls 24 and 25 of the bag. The portions of the continuations 26 and 27 extending between the fold lines 2% and 3t) overlap and cover the areas 32, defining between them areas of material 33 which will be referred to hereinafter as supplemental pieces. The function of the supplemental pieces 33 is to overlie the areas 32 during the filling of the bag and thus to prevent the deposition of powdered material on the areas 32 during the filling of the bag, which powdered material would subsequently interfere with the sealing of the areas 32 to each other as will be later described.

After the re-entrant folding of the continuations 26 and 27 to produce the re-entr-ant folds, the bag appears as illustrated in FIG. 4. The fold lines 28, Z} and 30 are spaced from each other distances such that the supplemental pieces of material, i.e., the areas 33, are of greater horizontal extent than the sealing surfaces formed by the areas 32. Thus, the supplemental pieces 33 extend outwardly beyond the outer areas of the sealing surfaces 32. In FIGS. 4 and 5, it can be seen that the fold lines 30 are located outwardly and laterally beyond the fold line 28.

After the formation of the re-entrant folds (continuations 26 and 27), the outer areas 32 and the supplemental pieces 33, the top of the bag 20 is closed by a factory seal generally indicated at 34. The bag is now in condition to be filled with the powdered or granular material which it is to contain. The re-entrant folds as and 27 (continuations) form a receiving tube opening at the outer end between the edges 3% and at the inner ends of the continuations 26 and 27 into the interior of the bag 20. The receiving tube thus formed permits the insertion into the bag of a filling spout indicated at 355' in FIGS. 6 and 7. Material is discharged into the interior of the bag under the control of the filling machine (not shown), the quantity being determined by the volume or weight in accordance with conventional filling procedures. Dust, whether ambient or being discharged from the filling machine, cannot fall upon the areas 32 because the supplemental pieces 33 overlie these areas and are squeezed against these areas by the presence of the filling spout 35 between the re-entrant folds formed by the continuations 26 and 27. During the filling of a bag embodying the invention, therefore, the areas subsequently to be utilized for the final sealing of the bag, i.e, the outer areas 32 forming the sealing surfaces, are protected and kept substantially free of contamination by material which would subsequently interfere with their effective sealing.

After the bag is filled and the filling spout 35 withdrawn, the supplemental pieces 33 are moved inwardly beyond the sealing areas 32 by collapsing the two folds formed by the three fold lines 23, 29 and 30, inwardly into the interior of the bag. Such movement is illustrated in FIG. 8 where the position of these parts as they have previously been described is shown in broken lines and their position after collapse is indicated in solid lines. In FIG. 8 the scalable surface formed by the dust protected areas 32 is darkened and indicated by the legend sealable surface.

After tucking the supplemental pieces 33 into the interior of the bag inwardly beyond the areas 32, the bag is finally closed by sealing the areas 32 together diagonally across the corner in the formation of a final seal indicated in FIG. 9 by the reference number 36.

In the modification of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 15-14, a blank generally indicated at 4t is formed from tubing or sheets of suitable sheet material as described above, so as to have a front 41 and back 42 with side edges 43 and 44 and a closed bottom formed by a seal 45. At at least one of the upper corners of the front and back walls 4-1 and 42, the blank is formed with continuations thereof designated by the reference numbers 46 and 4-7, respectively. In this embodiment of the invention, similar continuations 43 and 49 are also shown at the other upper corner. During the formation of the blank 4a, a slit Stl, indicated by the bracket in FIG. 10, is out between the meeting edges of the continuations 46 and 47, for example, by removing a small strip of material along a continuation of the edge 43.

After the blank 40 is formed into the shape illustrated in PEG. t0, the continuations 46 and 47 are re-entrantly folded inwardly between the front and back walls 41 and 42, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 11. The slit 5% is, therefore, located at the inner side of the re-entrant folds (continuations) 46 and 47. At the same time, the continuations 4S and 49 may be re-entrantly folded at the upper right hand corner to provide for symmetry in the shape of the bag and to provide subsequent handling pockets as will be described below with respect to FIG- URE 14. After the continuations 46 and 47 are reentrantly folded, supplemental pieces of sheet material are positioned between these re-entrant folds 46 and 47 to serve as liners therefor and to protect the surfaces of the folds 46 and 47 from contamination by dust. In this embodiment of the invention, the supplemental pieces of sheet material are provided by a sleeve or tube generally indicated at 51 which extends through the slit 50 and which may be fabricated from one or more pieces of suitable sheet material folded into the slightly coned shape shown in FlG-URE 11.

The sleeve 51 is sealed in position extending through the slit and between the re-entrant folds 46 and 47 at the time the top of the bag is closed by a top seal generally indicated by the reference number 52 in FIGURE 12. It will be seen in FIG. 12 that an upper corner of the sieeve 51, indicated by the reference number 53, is caught in the top seal 52 when the top seal is made. At the same time, the continuations 48 and 49 are sealed together by a diagonal seal 54-, and a short diagonal seal 55 is made at the lower portions of the re-entrant folds 46 and 47 beneath the sleeve 51. The fabrication of the bag is now finished and the bag is ready for filling and for sealing after filling. At this stage, the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. l014 is comparable to the stage of the earlier described embodiment of the invention as illustrated in H68. 5 and 6.

The bag of this embodiment of the invention is filled by the insertion of a filling spout generally indicated by the reference number 56 through the short sleeve 51 and opening into the interior of the bag 44 the sleeve 51 forming the supplemental pieces of sheet material which line the spout receiving tube. The receiving tube is formed, of course, by the re-entrant folds 46 and 47 and the opening provided by the slit 5% As in the case of the earlier described embodiment of the invention, the su plemental pieces provided by the sides of the tube 57. extend outwardly beyond the outer areas of the rte-entrant folds 56 and 47 and protect those areas from the deposition of dust thereon so that they will function as subsequent scalable surfaces.

After the bag is filled and the spout 56 is withdrawn, the outer portions of the tube 51, i.e., the supplemental pieces of sheet material, are tucked inwardly beyond the sealable areas of the re-entrant folds 46 and 7 as shown in FIG. 3, and the final closing seal indicated by the reference number 57 is made, finally closing the bag.

FIGURE 14 illustrates how a bag embodying this modification of the invention may be lifted by the insertion of the forefinger of a person into the pockets provided below the top seal 52 and laterally outwardly of the diagonal seals 54 and 57.

I claim:

A spout type bag for powdered and the like materials, said bag having opposed front and back walls, each of said walls having oppositely facing first and second surfaces, said Walls being joined together at their side edges and across their bottoms with their first surfaces facing one another, continuations of said front and back walls at one upper corner forming a plurality of diagonal folds between said first surfaces, said diagonal folds including a first fold adjacent a side edge of said bag and extending inwardly between said walls with portions of said second surfaces facing one another, a second fold adjacent said first fold and extending outwardly therefrom between said walls with portions of said second surfaces facing away from one another toward the portions of said second surfaces in said first fold thereby forming a covering for the same, and a third fold adjacent said second fold and extending inwardly between said walls with portions of said second surfaces facing one another, there being an opening at the inner side of said third fold leading therebetween into the interior of said bag, said front and back walls being joined together across their top edges above said opening, said third fold and said opening constituting a receiving tube for a filling machine spout during filling, said third fold being movable inwardly between said walls to form a single fold whereby said portions of said second surfaces of said second fold uncover said portions of said second surfaces of said first fold to form. a clean sealing surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,356,114 Rose Oct. 19, 1920 2,098,258 Rowe Nov. 9, 1937 2,102,685 Du Bois Dec. 21, 1937 2,185,401 Dahlhaus Jan. 2, 1940 2,373,340 Rohdin Apr. 10, 1945 2,437,693 Hartman Mar. 16, 1948 2,708,067 Paton May 10, 1955 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,042.28? July 3, 1962 Frank J. Chandler It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 1, line 58, for "as" read be column 4, line 74, for "FIG. 3" read FIG. 13

Signed and sealed this 13th day of November 1962.

SEAL) ttest:

NEST w. SWIDER DAVID L D eating Officer Commissioner of Patents 

